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Ancient City of Gaochang, Xinjiang

Gaochang means, "King City" in Uygur. Because the city was the capital of Gaochang Huihu Kingdom, it was renamed Gaochang. By the 14th century, the city was damaged and abandoned due to warfare between Mongolian aristocrats and Uigurs. After 2,000 years, the weather-beaten ancient city still displays its past greatness and glory even though the walls are incomplete the magnificent outline remains. The ruins are an irregular square, covering an area of about 2,200,000 sq meters (2,631,178 sq yards). The layout is similar to that of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The city is composed of three sections: an outer city, an inner city and a palace city.

The outer city with a perimeter of 5.4 kilometers (3.4 miles), is enclosed by a city wall of 12 meters (39 feet) thick and 11.5 meters (37.7 feet) high, and built with tamped earth. Nine city gates are located in the four cardinal points: three in the South, and two in each of the other directions. The gates in the west are the best preserved. In the southwestern and southeastern parts of the outer city stand two temples ruins. The temple in the southwestern corner consists of a gate, a courtyard, a sermon hall, a sutra depository and monks' abodes. The southeastern temple consists of a polygonal tower and a worship grotto, where splendid murals remain well preserved.

Ancient City Gaochang As one of the key points along the Silk Road, the ancient city of Gaochang was also a sanctuary of world religious culture.In 629 A.D., Xuan Zang, a famous monk of the Tang Dynasty, made a pilgrimage to India to seek enlightenment on the philosophy of Buddhism, and on his way he passed through Gaochang. The King of Gaochang invited him to preach to him and his subjects, so Xuan Zang stayed and taught the Buddhist scriptures to the people of Gaochang. Today, the remains standing here remind us of the grandeur and prosperity of the ancient city.

Ancient City Gaochang In the boundless desolate Gobi desert stand the ruins of the ancient city of Gaochang, shining like a resplendent precious stone inlaid in the barren desert and shining on the Silk Road. Gaochang is located at the foot of the Flaming Mountain, about 46 kilometers (about 29 miles) southeast of Turpan. Withstanding the test of time and weather, the ancient city of Gaochang, and the ancient city of Jiaohe, are the best-preserved ruins of the ancient cities in China. Up to now, the ancient city Gaochang has been one of the intact sites of ground ancient cities in China; also it is a rare cultural legacy in the sites of ancient cities in the world.